For those who "don't care 'cause we'll lose in the first round anyway" or hate the fact we "refuse to trade our 'good players' and tank", no need to read further. Move on to another thread, please. This is for fans that ENJOY WATCHING THE ROCKETS WIN (and who, like me, likely let their wins and losses affect their lives way too much!....lol) As I do when my teams find themselves in a "chase for the playoffs", I look at their remaining schedule as well as the teams that are also fighting for "remaining spots". I normally don't look at as many teams as I have this time, but I've thrown Dallas and the Clippers into the mix as well. There are only FOUR GAMES separating home court advantage and 11th place in the West right now. It's interesting to note that of the teams currently seeded 4 through 11, only the Rockets have more home games than road games remaining. I also looked at how many games each team has remaining vs teams fighting for a playoff spot (I didn't include Cleveland or lower in the East or anyone lower than Minnesota in the West). Finally, I looked at back to backs remaining. While Memphis should be fine with the return of Randolph, they have a ridiculous five games in six nights stretch still to play. TEAM..........HOME/ROAD.....VS PLAY TMS...BCK TO BCKS LA Clippers...........10-11................14.................7... Dallas...................8-11................14..................6... Memphis..............10-12................15..................9... Denver..................7-13................14..................4... HOUSTON..............10-9................12..................5... Utah.....................9-11................12..................5... Phoenix.................8-12................16..................7... Minnesota..............9-10................12..................4... For what it's worth, I feel it's going to come down to the Rockets and...uggh... the Jazz, for the eighth seed. The fact that everyone on the list has played more home games than road games other than the Rockets is crazy to me. Anyway, none of this means anything right now, obviously... but as always, I'm way too obsessed...lol. Carry on, fellas...
I'm really worried about the Suns, they've been playing well as of late. Hopefully we're pumped from our win over LA and the Suns are demoralized. Also, we have players coming back soon, although with the way Dragic and Lee are playing, that might be a double edged sword.
I was worried about 'em too. But, they have 12 of 20 games remaining on the road and a ridiculous SIXTEEN of twenty games against teams currently fighting for the playoffs. Gonna' be tough for them I think. They also have 7 back to backs - not easy when two of your best players are Nash and Grant Hill.
Actually, I am a little bit worrying about our schedule. We have 3 of top 5 teams in east to play. vs Indiana @Chicago @Miami
FOR SURE! I spend each night either flipping through the League Pass channels or watching the ESPN scoreboard...lol. Was miserable last night when we were down 12 with 6:43 to play and Phoenix was up ten in the fourth quarter in Miami...LOL...
I'm more worried about when and if Lowry can get back. If he were playing (and if a healthy K-Mart was playing up to his potential) and I looked at these schedules, I'd feel confident. But, I'm afraid Dragic's legs are gonna' go... I don't think Fortson can give us enough if Kyle doesn't make it back with ten or so games to play.
Moth of April is going to be really tough. - 4 game road trip starting with Chicago and Dallas then back2back against Kings & Blazers. - More road games against Denver, Dallas & Miami. Its going to be a nail biting finish. Looking forward to it.
Yeah, it was miserable watching Detroit blow that game last night. Would have moved up to 7th seed and Denver only has SIX home games left. Would have been a huge loss for them.
That is no doubt the main issue here IMO. With Lowry & healthy Kmart playing to his potential we are definitely in, and probably higher than 8th. Not only do we need Kyle back for his services, there's another aspect to it. If KL & KM do come back within say 5 games, Dragic and Lee are really going to be the difference makers, and here's why. Currently they are playing more minutes (almost double in some cases) than if they come in off the bench. When/if they go back to the bench (IMO one should, the other should not ... guess who?), they are going to be in better shape than most other bench guys they match up against. Not only that, but they're currently playing against starter quality guys, and if they go to the bench they won't be, which gives them another leg up. Lot's of if's here ... which is exactly the point of this thread, and why we all LOVE to watch NBA! Nicely done, repped.
The Rockets win regardless of whether they gain a seed. If they do, we are in the playoffs. If they miss, more than likely we have extra draft choices this year.
Jazz have the easiest schedule of the three. It's going to be difficult for the Rockets. The Rockets chances might come down to the hope that the Nuggets underperform as they readjust to new lineups brought on by new additions (Chandler and McGee) and Gallo's injury.
honestly we can easily overtake the nuggets , so last 2 places our between us nuggs and utah honestly
Good thread. Im with you here, but just a few notes- -Im just really glad that the Rockets were able to get SA and Memphis out of the way earlier in the season for the most part. -Those losses to Minnesota are going to hurt if they dont make the playoffs. -Its going to be interesting to see how Houston plays against Dallas this year. In the past few seasons, their size down low has been a major factor. I feel with Dally & Camby both seeing time on Dirk, the Rockets should give them fits. HOPEFULLY. -The Beasts in the East. Miami & Chicago... You have seen the Rockets play well against the best of the West, now lets see if they can turn it on for one or two upsets with these guys. When I look at the schedule, I have them winning the games they should win, winning 50% of the games they are evenly matched in, and penciling in losses for games they "should" loose. I have them going 10-9 over the remainder of the season. Leaves them at 35-31 at the end of the season. Not sure if thats enough to get in, but its going to be another close one this year.
